Manitoba has the Highest Rates of Kidney Disease in Canada

December 2018

Newly released national data shows Manitoba leads the country in rates of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).

The December 2018 Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Canadian Organ Replacement Register (CORR) report outlines the state of organ transplants and kidney failure in Canada. The 2018 report features data from 2008 to 2017 but excludes Quebec data due to under reporting in 2011 and 2017.

According to the report, Manitoba had the highest rate per million population (RPMP) for ESKD. The average RPMP for ESKD in Canada is 1371.5 while Manitoba’s rate is 24 per cent higher at 1703.9.

The CORR report indicates the number of Canadians living with ESKD (including those on dialysis or with a functioning transplant) has increased by 35 percent over the last 10 years.

When looking at dialysis alone, the number of Canadians on dialysis has grown by 30 percent since 2008. In that same period of time, the number of people on dialysis in Manitoba has grown by 45 per cent.

Today more than 1,700 Manitobans complete about 320,000 dialysis treatments annually both at home and in dialysis units.

LATE REFERRALS

Manitoba has improved when it comes to the number of late referrals for ESKD. Late referrals are patients who start dialysis within 90 days of seeing a kidney doctor. Manitoba had the second lowest rate in 2017 at 20 per cent while the Canadian average was 25 per cent. This was also Manitoba’s lowest percentage of late referrals since 2008.

LEADING CAUSE

The 2018 CORR report shows diabetes continuing to be the leading cause of ESKD in Manitoba. Nationally, about 30 per cent of all patients’ ESKD was caused by diabetes while in Manitoba that rate is 43 per cent. The majority of Manitoba patients living with ESKD are between the ages of 45 and 64 – this age group represents 43 per cent of the ESKD patient population. An additional 37 per cent of Manitoba patients are aged 65 and over.

HOME DIALYSIS

Manitoba is one of two provinces leading the country in the use of home hemodialysis at a rate of 3.3 per cent, while the Canadian average is 2.7 per cent. About 12 per cent of Manitoba patients use peritoneal dialysis which is on par with the national average of 11.7 per cent.

ORGAN DONATION

The report also shows that 1,339 kidney transplants were performed in Canada in 2017. While the rate of deceased kidney donation has increased 51 per cent during the last 10 years, living kidney donation has decreased by 11 per cent. More than 1,600 Canadians are actively waiting for a kidney transplant while an additional 1,000 people are in line for a kidney transplant once they are medically cleared to proceed.